And \\Watch// ((Them)) Burn {Open}

[Morgana]

Frell Montgomery

Frell wasn't quite sure what came over her. One minute, she was laying in her bed above the pie shop where she worked, and the next, she was walking barefoot and ghost-like down the streets. Her pale pink nightgown danced around her ankles and her feet made soft sounds against the cobblestone road. She had been woken by a sudden desire to do something crazy and unexpected. She was so quiet and assuming. All day she toiled in the pie shop, and people hardly noticed her because of her size. It hadn't bothered her so much at first, but as the months wore on it became like an itch she could not reach. She had started working in the pie shop to become her own person, to step out from her sister's protective shadow. But nothing had changed. She sat still and unmoving, only now in a different sort of shadow.

Almost as if in a trance, Frell had grabbed a box of matches from the kitchen on her way out. She had a plan. It would work, it had to. Even as her feet carried her to her destination, Frell couldn't quite believe she was about to do this. Perhaps she was still dreaming, laying in her bed. Oh, she hoped not. She was nervous, but she wanted to do this. It had to be done.

Hard roads gave way to the soft spring grasses of the orchards. Paths were worn in the dirt from years of walking between rows of trees. She knew this place like the back of her hand. She'd worked in the orchards with her sister, Chass, before she'd become apprentice to the pie-maker. She'd hated the work. She knew it had to be done, however, to support their small family. Now, hard green fruit hung off the trees, just beginning the process of growing.

Kneeling down by a tree, Frell arranged a small pile of kindling and lit a match. She waited until the fire caught, then moved on to the next tree. Down the row she went, lighting trees on fire, until she reached the end.. Then up the next row she went, smoke clouds chasing her. On and on, until she'd run out of matches. Only then did she run back to the place where the orchards began. It was there that she watched as fire ate away at the wood, spitting smoke up into a black, black sky. Tears wound their way down her cheeks, loosened by the beauty she'd created. She'd never known fire to be such a beautiful thing.

Frell fell to her knees as she watched the destruction, unable to run away. Yes. Oh, yes, just let it all burn.